Some Seattle schools recommended for closure

In a sweeping proposal aimed at helping the district bridge its budget gap, Seattle Public Schools today proposed closing 10 elementary schools, while creating two new middle schools and scaling back school choices for elementary students.

Superintendent Raj Manhas and his staff also proposed discontinuing school bus service for all high school students and for middle school students who are assigned to programs outside of their part of town. Students who required transportation would be offered Metro bus passes.

Presented to a packed auditorium at the district's headquarters, the proposal may be revised after a series of community and school meetings from May 9 to 26. Manhas plans to submit a final recommendation to the board on June 15.

The current proposal, if approved by the School Board in July, would be the most sweeping restructuring of the district in two decades and would be the first school closures since 1989. Closing schools and making bus operations more efficient will help the district deal with a $20 million budget deficit expected in the 2006-07 school year, Manhas says. But his staff is also going to have to reduce costs by restructuring academic programs and layoffs.

Some layoffs will naturally occur if schools are consolidated. Based on the district's earlier cost estimates, the permanent shuttering of 10 school buildings could translate into nearly $4 million in savings annually, including the loss of about 40 jobs. Changes to assignment and transportation plans could free up about $3 million annually for the district.

Students at the following elementary schools would need to be reassigned to neighborhood schools: Alki, Bagley, Rainier View, M.L. King, Montlake, Whitworth, North Beach, Cooper, T.T. Minor and Dearborn Park. The buildings — with the exception of Cooper, T.T. Minor, and Dearborn Park – would be shut until the district decides whether to lease them.

Pathfinder, now housed at Genesee Hill, would move into Cooper's building; the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center, now housed at Old Hay, would move into T.T. Minor's building. And the New School, now housed at the South Shore building, would move into Dearborn Park's facility.

The Genesee Hill and Old Hay buildings would be closed permanently, and South Shore would become a new middle school to accommodate the need in southeast Seattle. The other new middle school would be created at the Jane Addams building, now home to Summit K-12, in northeast Seattle.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com